I can't imagine it is easy surrendering to the law, either. So, what is the hurry with the guns?

We only have two arms. Not four. So, I don't know how this message becomes any clearer. It is the person receiving the message that has the problem. It simply is. When one person expresses no resistance to law enforcement and isn't honored to that reality, what is wrong with the other party in this?

For god's sake, what is everyone seeing?

This is Wesley Snipes. He was pursued and eventually was arrested for all non-violent charges. He served time and is out performing again. What is there to be afraid of? He is a citizen, did something wrong and surrendered to police. He is alive today after he served his time. I don't know what other people see and I don't know why a police officer believes it is okay if people are dead when they wanted to live and accept their circumstances.

I think Governor Nixon is concerned for the community in Ferguson.

We can't bring Mike Brown back, but, we can stop the insane reaction by police to young black men. Governor Nixon is correct in that this is a national problem. We know it is and we have to find a way forward.

Protest is a necessary part of our society and the Governor stated "...people have to be heard. And not just that they are talking, but, as they speak we open our ears." He is absolutely correct. The only way out of the maze of tensions that spawned some of the most aggressive police tactics to date is communication. Sincere and honest communication to bring about understanding by the community and the authorities. I can't believe there are SWAT teams delivering legal documents to citizen's doors. That has to stop wherever it is instituted. 

Our national and even state funding programs for law enforcement have to be realistic. When the day to day life of people become bizarre there is something really wrong. I am sure the USA can do better. 

I am sure it doesn't matter much, but, I had tears in my eyes while the Governor spoke. Mike Brown's loss is felt by many across this country and it is being repeated. It has to stop. I look forward to the Governor being successful as well as the community to bring forth their grievances and having their problems solved.

FERGUSON, Mo. — Gov. Jay Nixon (click here) announced Thursday that the Missouri Highway Patrol will take control of security in Ferguson and that the unit in the embattled town would be overseen by a native son, Capt. Ron Johnson

"What's gone on here over the last few days is not what Missouri is about. It's not what Ferguson is about. This is a place where people work, go to school, raise their families, go to church," Nixon said. "But lately it's looked a little bit more like a war zone and that's unacceptable."

Johnson, who grew up in Ferguson, said people need to show respect to each other.

"It means a lot to me personally that we this break cycle of violence, heal tension and build trust," Johnson said....      

It's sexier being a ISIL radical. It is a populous movement to save the people of Syria.

I suppose arming the Syrian rebels and abandoned USA munitions and hardware was a gift from god. Well done, McCain.

Egyptian Islam Yakin who has joined the jihadist Islamic State group. Cairo: A gym freak, a fan of rap music and a philanderer, Islam Yakin, 22, has recently raised many eyebrows in his homeland Egypt after joining the Islamic State, an Al-Qaida splinter group in control of vast swathes of Iraq and Syria.PHOTO COURTESY:ORGANISER

August 14, 2014
By Ramadan al Sherbini

Cairo: A gym freak, (click here) a fan of rap music and a philanderer, Islam Yakin, 22, has recently raised many eyebrows in his homeland Egypt after joining the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil), an Al Qaida splinter group in control of vast swathes of Iraq and Syria.

Yakin studied high school at the French Lycee la Liberte in the eastern Cairo quarter of Heliopolis and earned a law degree at Ain Shams University in the Egyptian capital.

Months after his graduation in 2013, the multilingual man disappeared from Egypt only to surprise his friends later with posts on social media saying he is in Syria fighting along with Islamist militants against troops of President Bashar Al Assad....

Well, of course, CEO McMillion wants stronger sales, so when is he going to raise the pay rates of his employees?

I hardly call $1.21 per share poverty. When are the Walmart employees going to be recognized in their collective bargaining organizations to provide better wages and benefits?

The average Walmart employee earns $19,105 per year while the former CEO earned $20 million per year.

Jim Walton (click here) is ranked by Forbes as 11th WORLD'S billionaires with a net worth of $34.6 billion.

What is wrong with the USA economy? Walmart. It currently employs 2.2 million globally and is the largest employer of Americans paying them poverty wages.

Walmart met analyst expectations (click here) for the second quarter with earnings per share of $1.21 and a 0.6% profit increase.

Walmart reported $4.1 billion in net income Thursday. The retailer posted $119.3 billion in net sales, up 2.8% from last year's $116.1 billion.

Analysts expected earnings per share of $1.21, according to FactSet.

Sales at Walmart U.S. stores open at least a year were flat, continuing a weak trend for the retailer at home. Prior to this quarter, Walmart's U.S. stores had seen five straight quarters of sales declines and six straight quarters of customer traffic declines.

CEO Doug McMillon said in a company statement that he wants to see stronger sales in the U.S. but overall is pleased with the results....      

This has been happening across the USA. Michigan communities were flooded by same storm.

This is an improvement over Palestine.

How many did the USA personnel find dead?

August 14, 2014
By David Wroe

US military advisers (click here) say there are ‘‘far fewer’’ refugees stranded on a mountain in northern Iraq than previously thought, meaning the prospects of an immediate international rescue mission have receded.

After a small team of fewer than 20 US troops landed on Mount Sinjar to assess the refugee crisis, the Pentagon issued a statement saying that ‘‘an evacuation mission is far less likely’’ than previously thought.

US Defence Department officials said that air strikes and Kurdish fighters had broken the mountain siege, allowing thousands of trapped Yazidis to escape, The New York Times reported....

Police Chief Thomas Jackson needs to resign.

You've got to be joking.

Jackson has a grossly out of balance number of minorities in his police department and a death of a young black man by the gun of a police officer and this is his response?

The officer involved needs to be suspended and the investigation opened up to the public with daily reports that include eyewitness reports.

I suppose he believes this aggressive front by the police is going to improve relations with the community. Well, guess what, it's not. Learning anything yet, Jackson?

Those young black men in this community need good jobs, when are they going to be able to enter into law enforcement to their communities?

Everyday that goes by and there are violent confrontations with police it tells the community the police department has already decided it wasn't their problem. You see all those young black men? Yes? You know what their thinking? That is Jackson's first mistake. He should know what they are thinking. But, let me make a guess, "If I am going to die with a police bullet then I'll do it tonight." In mass. Every young black man in Ferguson is now shot by a police officer and going to make it real.

Enough. Jackson needs to go.

(Reuters) - Police in Ferguson, Missouri, (click here) fired tear gas, stun grenades and smoke bombs to disperse some 350 protesters late Wednesday, the fourth night of racially charged demonstrations after police shot to death an unarmed black teen.

Some demonstrators hurled rocks at police as others scattered, while smoke engulfed the area. A Reuters reporter saw two young men preparing what looked like petrol bombs in a bus-stop shelter, their faces covered by bandanas. Police said protesters had thrown petrol bombs at officers.

Protesters have gathered every night since Saturday when 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot to death in the mostly black suburb of St. Louis, during what authorities said was a struggle over a gun in a police car. Some witnesses say he was outside the car with his hands up.

Police have deployed camouflage-clad officers in body armor, including one manning a rifle on a tripod atop an armored car, to Ferguson....

POWs ?

If the civil war has resulted in an opposition force that is depleted, Ukraine has the option to offer them amnesty if they surrender their weapons and end the assault.

Allow them to return to their families and perhaps even a job. They can resume a normal life while pledging their loyalties to a free country.

Russian communists certainly know how to be regimented.

I didn't notice the Ukraine Civl War was over. Sending supplies to an opposition force is supporting them. If the opposition force in the Ukraine civil war needs this much in the way of supplies, they can't be in very good condition at this point. But, according to some reports the trucks have been hijacked within Russia. Scary. 

2000 deaths is not a minor issue. Russia needs to bring their involvement to an end. Supply the opposition forces doesn't seem to be the right path for these people. There should be clear communication between the parties to end this conflict. It isn't going to achieve anything.

Trucks of Russian humanitarian convoy wait at the location outside Voronezh some 400 km outside Moscow Photo: AFP/Getty Images

August 13, 2014
By Roland Oliphant
Moscow

Ukraine (click here) accused Moscow of mounting a cynical attempt to incite a pro-Russian rebellion on Wednesday, as uncertainty surrounded a 262-truck "aid convoy" that appeared to grind to a halt before reaching the border.

The stand-off came as violence worsened in eastern Ukraine, with the United Nations announcing that the death toll in the four-month conflict had doubled in the past two weeks to more than 2,000.

Government forces are seeking to press their advantage against the pro-Russian rebels, which has stoked fears that the aid convoy is part of a Russian plan to fend off the rebels' seemingly inevitable defeat.

"The level of Russian cynicism knows no bounds," said Arseniy Yatsenyuk, the Ukrainian prime minister. "First they send tanks, Grad missiles and bandits who fire on Ukrainians – and then they send water and salt."

Arsen Avakov, Ukraine's interior minister, had said the "Putinist" convoy would not pass, calling it a "provocation by a cynical aggressor"....

Typical Mind Speak

The consulates in Erbil and elsewhere need to be evacuated now. In the past when the USA troops conducted humanitarian aid it wasn't in a war zone. They really think we were only born yesterday and naive to all the lies.

Haiti - earthquake

Thailand - earthquake and tsunami

August 12, 2014
By Luis Martinez and and Elisa Widerlite Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel (click here) has announced that the United States has sent a new 130 member military assessment team to Erbil in northern Iraq to determine what further assistance the U.S. can provide in easing the humanitarian crisis of thousands of Yazidis trapped at Mount Sinjar.   For now, the United States has provided five airdrops of food and water to the Yazidis and conducted 18 airstrikes targeting ISIS fighters  surrounding the mountain or who were approaching Erbil....

This is NOT a humanitarian effort. It is seeking to protect people from death because there is a civil war.

This is an acceptable definition of Humanitarian Aid: Humanitarian aid is material or logistical assistance provided for humanitarian purposes, typically in response to humanitarian crises including natural disaster and man-made disaster.

The Yazidis need to get to a refugee camp. That is a combat mission and has absolutely nothing to do with humanitarian aid. How do I know this? It has been all over the television. Bullets, helicopters and where the two meet that is a war.

...The new deployment to Erbil will raise to 935 the number of U.S. military personnel now in Iraq, including 100 who were already in Iraq serving at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad....

Sixty days after the first deployment there is additional deployments. Is there absolutely no one able to give an assessment from the Kurds to Turkey? No one? Only a USA military deployment is sufficient enough to determine the need for MORE USA military deployments I suppose.

Specialist Christopher Conner smiles with Specialist Dante Battle (R) as their Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle approaches the Kuwaiti border with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division as part of the last U.S. military convoy to leave Iraq December 18, 2011. The last convoy of U.S. soldiers pulled out of Iraq on Sunday, ending nearly nine years of war that cost almost 4,500 American and tens of thousands of Iraqi lives and left a country still grappling with political uncertainty.

December 18, 2011
By Joseph Logan

The last convoy of U.S. soldiers (click here) pulled out of Iraq on Sunday, ending nearly nine years of war that cost almost 4,500 American and tens of thousands of Iraqi lives, and left a country grappling with political uncertainty.

The war launched in March 2003 with missiles striking Baghdad to oust President Saddam Hussein closes with a fragile democracy still facing insurgents, sectarian tensions and the challenge of defining its place in an Arab region in turmoil.

As U.S. soldiers pulled out, Iraq's delicate power-sharing deal for , Sunni and Kurdish factions was already under pressure. The Shi'ite-led government asked parliament to fire the Sunni deputy prime minister, and security sources said the Sunni vice president faced an arrest warrant....

Let's see, the Former VA Secretary stated in order to carry out an effective invasion it would take 200,000 troops. At the rate Obama is going sending 1000 troops every 60 days it will take about 4 years to redeploy an effective force.

The CLUE in December 2011 was that the USA was leaving. It meant the former Iraq military was suppose to take up the protection of it's sovereignty. Guess what? It didn't happen. No more Iraq. Try and get your minds around that. National building doesn't work. I suppose Obama and Kerry are now the geniuses of all geniuses, right?

We don't belong in Iraq.

We never did.

By Josh Voorhees...
The advisers are Marines and Special Operations Forces, (click here) according to the Defense Department. They were sent to the Kurdish capital of Erbil to assess the situation in the Sinjar area, where thousands of displaced Yazidis have been stranded with little food or water by the Sunni extremists fighting under the banner of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. But while Hagel echoed President Obama's weekend promise that there would be no new U.S. combat operations in Iraq, senior officials were quietly suggesting that that might not be exactly the case....

The Marines are the first to be sent in when a war theater is to be opened. Now, we have 1000 troops in a hostile land that are the targets of extremists both in some strange new militant organization and within the ranks of the fragments left over from the once Iraqi military. If a country can't defend it's borders it is no longer sovereign. Perhaps, Baghdad can declare it's own sovereignty while the rest of the land rearranges borders. Baghdad today is the ONLY area that resembles pre-Iraqi surrender. Basically, Baghdad is a dead ender.

Nation building doesn't work and Baghdad is not a nation and is the only fragment left from the former Iraq. There is no Iraqi military. It isn't as though they just need munitions, THEY NEED TROOPS!!!!!!!!!!

It is over in Iraq. The USA military is not going back to TRY AGAIN to build a country out of NOTHING!
August 12, 2014
By Jonathan Topaz

After remaining quiet (click here) about recent U.S military action in Iraq, Sen. Rand Paul, whose foreign policy views have ignited a debate within the Republican Party, says he has “mixed feelings” about the American airstrikes.

The Kentucky Republican, who has come under fire within the GOP for what has been called his isolationist approach, noted that many supporters of strikes against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants also called for airstrikes against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime last year.

“I have mixed feelings about it,” the senator said Monday evening of the recent strikes against ISIL targets. “I’m not saying I’m completely opposed to helping with arms or maybe even bombing, but I am concerned that ISIS is big and powerful because we protected them in Syria for a year. Do you know who also hates ISIS and who is bombing them? Assad, the Syrian government.”

Troops out now!

So they are called personnel now, huh?

Military personnel are being sent to northern Iraq to assess the scope of the humanitarian mission for the thousands of Yezidi minority trapped on Mt Sinjar by the ISIL. (Source: AP)

...These military personnel, (click here) comprising of Marines and special operations forces, are being sent to northern Iraq to assess the scope of the humanitarian mission and develop additional humanitarian assistance options beyond the current airdrop effort in support of displaced Iraqi civilians trapped on Sinjar Mountain by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, according to a defense official....

Oh, yeah it's temporary. The temporary PERSONNEL sent 60 days ago are still there.

The thing is this. The USA is running into the very same problem as the community in the Baghdad gated community; they can't and/or won't cross the desert because the militants have USA munitions and tanks.

The only PERSONNEL that can do anything at this point are the PERSONNEL with fighter jet back up. Guess who that is? Guess where they come from?

The leadership in Baghdad isn't going to make a bit of difference. They are behind blast walls and willing to wait it out forever. What is difference about this than any other figure head government the USA has called legitimate? Karzai has been a figure head government since the first days of October 2001. BUT. He and Bush found that government legitimate since the early days forward for 13 flyin' years. Thirteen years of American money and military. Those Photo Ops go along way, don't they?

The Shi'ites in West Iran need to continue to build up their military with sophisticated weapons and training from Iran. The USA set them free and now they better make good use of it and stay free and autonomous.

The Kurds need to continue their military approach to their borders. They should be recruiting all those willing to fight their war for sovereignty, BUT, NO CHILDREN. The children are the next generation of leaders and they should be in school and those old enough should be at the university in a country that will SPONSOR them.

An Albar will take care of itself because it's western borders are that of Saudi Arabia.

The best the USA can do is destroy all the tanks, humvees and stores of munitions currently used by militants using those PERSONNEL with jet fighters. It is called bombs. Kindly remember there are innocent people within those lands, so get rid of them in majority of ability to do so and forget the equipment too entrenched among the people. Once the majority of the military equipment is destroyed it will give Assad relief in Syria.

Who is Kardashin married to? I wasn't invited. I wouldn't know. They had a baby, right? They waited until they got married or not? Is she still on that family gossip show?

That mess doesn't really interest me. My nephew had a baby. Madison. She is so cute. They were having trouble getting pregnant at first, but, after about six months of being married it all happened. Mom had a difficult time delivering though. But, Madison is happy and healthy. They had to induce and then the OB had to use forceps. Apgar scores scared me. 2-5-9. Worried. But, she is a cutey and seems to have all her appropriate reflexes. She is only three weeks old. So, far, so good.

Same old right wing macho baloney finally caused death.

Tony Stewart has no problems. He didn't kill anyone. Ward got out of his car and looked for Stewart's car coming around the track. Stewart never asked to have a person angry enough at him to put his life in danger for his fans.

August 10, 2014
By Cornne Heller
NASCAR (click here) champion Tony Stewart is under police investigation after hitting and killing a fellow driver, Kevin Ward Jr., during a Sprint dirt-track car race....

The race is open wheels which is inherently dangerous by its nature. The racing association have to make rules to prevent grandstanding. It is necessary for drivers to exit a car in case there is fire, but, to seek attention and revenge on the track is asking for the award of jackass. Ward didn't value his own life enough. In that is permission to put this fans in the same illogical machismo. 

I don't appreciate the grandstanding for ratings with his fans. The racing industry is as much responsible for not ending this poor sportsmanship a long time ago. 

FOX has been stoking the fires to pressing charges. It is nonsense. If anyone needs to have charges pressed against him it is the late Kevin Ward, Jr.

USGS warns earthquakes on the rise in Oklahoma. Everyone coping okay, while the petroleum industry doesn't care? Need any nerve pills, there are plenty of them.

Posted: Aug 12, 2014 2:25 PM EDTUpdated: Aug 12, 2014 2:25 PM EDTPosted by: Jennifer Cope, Producer
The U.S. Geological Survey (click here) is warning that the chances of a damaging earthquake in Oklahoma have increased significantly.Experts have been studying the earthquakes in our state and have found the number of tremors has been growing since 2009.The moderate quakes could mean that a "big one" is possible and it could hit without warning.The U.S.G.S. has pointed to wastewater injection as a contributing factor to the earthquakes.The petroleum industry's answer to devastating the land in the USA is cope. It would be just too bad if this occurred to the foundation of a home.

A 2011 magnitude 5.7 quake near Prague, Okla., apparently triggered by wastewater injection,buckled U.S. Highway 62. (John Leeman)A new study in the journal Geology (click here) is the latest to tie a string of unusual earthquakes, in this case, in central Oklahoma, to the injection of wastewater deep underground. Researchers now say that the magnitude 5.7 earthquake near Prague, Okla., on Nov. 6, 2011, may also be the largest ever linked to wastewater injection. Felt as far away as Milwaukee, more than 800 miles away, the quake—the biggest ever recorded in Oklahoma--destroyed 14 homes, buckled a federal highway and left two people injured. Small earthquakes continue to be recorded in the area....Published Online July 3 2014Science 25 July 2014: Vol. 345 no. 6195 pp. 448-451 DOI: 10.1126/science.1255802

Sharp increase in central Oklahoma seismicity (click here) since 2008 induced by massive wastewater injection

K. M. Keranen, 

M. Weingarten, 

G. A. Abers, 

B. A. Bekins, 

S. Ge

Unconventional oil and gas production provides a rapidly growing energy source; however, high-production states in the United States, such as Oklahoma, face sharply rising numbers of earthquakes. Subsurface pressure data required to unequivocally link earthquakes to wastewater injection are rarely accessible. Here we use seismicity and hydrogeological models to show that fluid migration from high-rate disposal wells in Oklahoma is potentially responsible for the largest swarm. Earthquake hypocenters occur within disposal formations and upper basement, between 2- and 5-kilometer depth. The modeled fluid pressure perturbation propagates throughout the same depth range and tracks earthquakes to distances of 35 kilometers, with a triggering threshold of ~0.07 megapascals. Although thousands of disposal wells operate aseismically, four of the highest-rate wells are capable of inducing 20% of 2008 to 2013 central U.S. seismicity.

August 12, 2014
By Bryan Rupp

In what seems a never ending string of earthquake activity in Oklahoma and now Kansas has been documented during the past 30 days.  The following is a list of earthquakes totalling 86 that have shook the two states with a minimum magnitude of 2.5 in the past 30 days.  This list does not include the smaller quakes with magnitudes of less than 2.5.

The strongest quake was a 4.3 magnitude that was felt across a wide and vast expanse of Oklahoma and Kansas.  It's epicenter was 24 km WSW of Medford, OK....

For complete list click here.

How many times do the geologists of Oklahoma have to conduct studies to prove the danger in this technology?

August 11, 2014
By Janelle Stecklein

OKLA. CITY — Within the next few months (click here) the state’s top earth scientists plan to add 20 new seismic-monitoring stations to better track temblors in Oklahoma.

Austin Holland, a research seismologist with Oklahoma Geological Survey, said eight permanent and 12 temporary stations will enhance the agency’s existing network.

“The more stations we have, the better information we can get about the earthquakes,” Holland said. “We want to be consistent in monitoring so that we can say we can see everything above magnitude 2 across the state.”

When Holland first started working at the Geological Survey in 2009, he estimates the state averaged about 1.5 earthquakes per year. Now, he said, it’s more like 1.5 per day....

I want to know if Robin Williams was started recently on new medication. I was fairly obvious he was determined. The question is why and were there any other signs.

Livor mortis helps determine time of death. It is physics. Telltale signs of the progression of post death/post mortum deterioration.

Lividity (click here) is also useful for this purpose. Lividity is the process through which the body's blood supply will stop moving after the heart has stopped pumping it around the inside of the deceased. What normally happens at this point is that the blood supply - or at least any blood that remains within the corpse depending on the nature of their death - will settle in direct response to gravity....

Who said this?

Politically policies of the United States (click here) and the region over very long period of time have created either anger or suffering or skepticism among many in the Arab world who felt that support of sometimes despotic regimes, the favoring of Israel in efforts to reach a peace between the Arab countries and Israel. And the -- as one Arab writer has put it, the inconsistent application or implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolutions where the United States has gone to war and/or other kinds of intense pressures to implement Security Council resolutions on the occupation of Kuwait, on Lebanon and on Iraq, but resolutions that go back to 1967 on the occupation of Arab lands by Israel have virtually been ignored. So that has just created an atmosphere. 

It was Queen Noor on Larry King Live on April 13, 2007. But, that is not all she said.

KING: And your late husband spoke that wonderful day. 
Toronto, Canada, for Queen Noor. Hello. 

CALLER: Hello, good evening. As most of your life has been spent in the Middle East, though American born, Queen Noor of Jordan, are you dismayed with how relations are between the United States and many Arab counties in the Middle East? 

NOOR: Yes, extremely. And it's been struggle for me over 26 years to try to contribute a voice that, I hope understands both sides, feels a conviction, absolute conviction that there's far more that Americans and Arabs and Muslims share than divides them. Politically policies of the United States and the region over very long period of time have created either anger or suffering or skepticism among many in the Arab world who felt that support of sometimes despotic regimes, the favoring of Israel in efforts to reach a peace between the Arab countries and Israel. And the -- as one Arab writer has put it, the inconsistent application or implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolutions where the United States has gone to war and/or other kinds of intense pressures to implement Security Council resolutions on the occupation of Kuwait, on Lebanon and on Iraq, but resolutions that go back to 1967 on the occupation of Arab lands by Israel have virtually been ignored. So that has just created an atmosphere. 

KING: So you're saying they have a reason. They were against the war in Iraq, right. 

NOOR: I think what's terribly important, we've seen a lot of -- we've seen this in recent conversations -- recent discussions have been held in Washington, is that the people of the Arab world, especially of Palestinians, look at what has been consistent, steady encroachment on their territory of Israeli settlements and settlers over four decades, and continuing expansion of settlements. And that erodes their confidence in whether the Israeli government is truly committed to peace. And it also affects the American image in the region because it seems that the United States is turning a blind eye to what is contrary to U.N. security Council Resolutions....

The interest in the Queen by the American Public continued.

...Caller: I have two quick questions. For the sake of time I'll only ask about one subject. Queen Noor, I'd like to know what you think about the war in Iraq, and do you think we'll ever have peace in the Middle East? 

KING: Two light subjects. NOOR: Well, I can answer both in perhaps one direction. I believe, as my husband did, that the way to achieve peace in any community in the world, and certainly in the Middle East, is by focusing on human beings, on human needs and human rights and on soft power ways of bringing parties together to try to solve problems peacefully and nonviolently. Dialogue was something that my husband emphasized and was very effective at shortcutting problems that were developing in the region. 

And I think if the United States in particular, given its active involvement in the region, shifts to increasing emphasis on soft power and on development and support for the different areas that it feels are critical to peace, issues such as governments, but also tackling poverty and unemployment and the importance of education and cross- cultural understanding, which an article recently in this country described as having not been given any greater attention since even 9/11 in universities and schools in this country -- these are the areas where the United States once excelled. Bringing people together, promoting exchange. This is where the United States needs to focus again, and it will have a phenomenal impact. 

KING: Do you think Iraq was a mistake? 

NOOR: The war in Iraq? 

KING: Yes. 

NOOR: I tend not to focus in on political decisions like that, but that having occurred, on, where can we work now? And I think prior, to the war, I would have hoped for a little more dialogue and a little more coordination and emphasis on the U.N. and the weapons experts to really take that fully to the end before resorting -- that war should be the total last resort. That's what my husband believed and I believe that's the way to peace....

The United States has had its chance to bring about regime change and has failed. It along with it's allies broke down the peace process of the United Nations. It is time to end the violence in the Middle East. The regional nations knew what was best in the past and I am confident they do today.

We don't belong in Iraq.

We never did.

It is about time Palestinian lives are important.

August 12, 2014
By Haaretz

Latest updates [Tuesday]: (click here)

8:43 P.M. The British government has announced that if "significant hostilities" resume in Gaza, it will suspend 12 arms export licenses to Israel. Licenses that might be suspended include radar systems, combat aircraft and tanks used by the IDF in Gaza. The Iron Dome is not included. Business Secretary Vince Cable said: “No new licences of military equipment have been issued for use by the Israeli Defence Force during the review period and as a precautionary measure this approach will continue until hostilities cease.” (Barak Ravid) 

TripAdvisor has listed the top ten zoos in the USA as destination places (click title to entry - thank you).

If anyone has postponed a vacation, there is still time to relax for at least a day and enjoy some distraction from stress. The zoos are great.

Zoo camp for children with challenges.

Mack Livesay, 16, second from right, tries to decide where to put a paper mache balloon full of food in the wolverine enclosure at The Minnesota Zoo during Zoo Crew Camp, for children with autism, on Friday August 8, 2014. Zookeeper Janis Liukonen, left/foreground, told them to put it somewhere that is a challenge for the wolverines, yet to avoid the stream and high branches because it could fall. Livesay is standing by Micah Grubb, center, and Tyler Skrove, right. (Pioneer Press: Jean Pieri)

August 10, 2014

By Christopher Magan

...He wasn't disappointed. (click here)

Mack was attending a summer camp last week for teens with autism that is new to the Apple Valley zoo.

For a week, campers get a behind-the-scenes look at the zoo while learning about the environment and the different jobs at the state-funded facility.

"You never know who will be the next Jane Goodall," said Tyler Ahnemann, community programs supervisor. "We want to give everyone an opportunity."

Each summer, the zoo opens its doors to as many as 4,000 camp participants who spend anywhere from an hour to a week learning about plants, animals and the environment. The zoo offers 87 different camps throughout the summer.

Students at the new autism camp also got some valuable time to practice social skills in a public setting, said Dawn Brasch, education and training specialist for the Autism Society of Minnesota....

One hundred year old carousel. The maintenance department at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium should be celebrating it's anniversary. 

August 11, 2014
By Thomas Gallick

At the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, (click here) a $1 ticket buys a trip spanning 100 years of central Ohio history.

The zoo currently is celebrating the centennial of its Mangels-Illions Grand Carousel -- an attraction that has thrilled generations of children at multiple locations since 1914.

The ride, which features 52 carved horses, two chariots and a Wurlitzer organ, originally was installed at Olentangy Park, an amusement park located just off North High Street between West Dodridge Street and West Tulane Road in Clintonville.

Mary Rodgers, president of the Clintonville Historical Society, said Olentangy Park sometimes was referred to as the biggest amusement park in the United States -- and even the world -- during its years of operation from the turn of the century to 1938.

Rodgers said Olentangy Park, along with other other attractions in the Clintonville area at the time, was largely built as a catalyst to increase streetcar traffic in the Columbus area during the weekends. Although the park was one of the world's largest, Rodgers said its clientele was mostly local....

Chairwoman Janet Yellen assumed office February 4, 2014.

Everyone knows Carlyle. They are the home of Edward Snowden.

This is a one year graph of the stock prices for the company. It is noted it's stock met an all time high on February 25, 2014 at a price of $37.85. This was a remarkable improvement in the stock price of Carlyle. The highest the stock had been before was February 15, 2013 at a price of $35.51. Shortly after that maximum in 2013 the stock tumbled to low of $25.13 in September. The downward spiral was consistent during that time. Why is any of this notable? This is the first time in a while that the stock price has not only recovered but SUSTAINED.

On 30 JULY The Carlyle Group LP (NASDAQ:CG) (click here) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $900.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $792.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.39 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 77.2% on a year-over-year basis. The Carlyle Group LP (NASDAQ:CG) shares increased 2.38% in last trading session and ended the day on $32.20. CG Gross Margin is 71.80% and its return on assets is 0.30%. The Carlyle Group LP (NASDAQ:CG) quarterly performance is 3.77%.

Chairwoman Yellen has a very long track record of consistency in decision making. Her academic knowledge and application of those standards are consistent. When the stock market looks at Yellen it sees stability and NOT "Bubble and Bust." President Obama in his 2008 campaign stated there would be no more Bubble and Bust USA economy. He lived up to his word and the USA economy is better off for it. Can we now concentrate on the economic future and not the immediate emergency to create STABLE labor conditions without giveaway cross border trade agreements?

Just to note, Carlyle was one of the heroes to the Chinese people when they entered the baby formula market. It didn't take a cross border trade agreement to have that occur either. And that is the way it should be. A country needs to correct the insults against it's Middle Class and return function to it's consumers. The Chinese government needed to stabilize the baby formula market to the burgeoning Chinese Middle Class. There were death sentences to the men that ran the baby formula companies using melamine. But, the idea cross border trade is going to solve problems within countries like China is wayward thinking. These trade agreements are being used to skirt USA policy. That should never exist.

The Chinese Middle Class is growing and China has every reason to be proud of it's long term goals. But, it is the growth in the Middle Class in any country that will bring about global economic stability. THAT is what the goals of the USA should be, not harnessing cheap labor to impoverish the world. The working conditions of laborers in products the USA imports should be paramount to any trade relation.

...To address the melamine issue directly, (click here) the company made a major strategic decision to procure 100 percent of its raw milk powder from high-quality overseas dairy producers. It also established product testing collaborations with top-tier international laboratories to strengthen product quality and safety control.

The Carlyle-Yashili partnership also set an example for the industry to transform itself and elevate its product quality to international standards. With Carlyle’s assistance, Yashili established the Food Quality and Safety Advisory Committee (FQSAC), the first of its kind in the Chinese dairy industry. This served as a catalyst to further enhance its product quality control protocols, via checks by certified auditors from an American auditing company and product testing in certified labs in the U.S., New Zealand and Hong Kong....

This was a good decision for the companies as well as the consumers. I might point to the fact this was baby formula, not bombs. Now, the Chinese government needs to instill high quality standards to continue to grown it's domestic milk products and continue to improve it's GDP.

There are many problems in the world and they can be solved if Wall Street tries. It doesn't take a genius to realize a company's reputation is best when all consumers and stockholders have good quality of life and the esteem of it's Middle Class with upward mobility. Chairwoman Yellen knows what she is doing, it is up to Wall Street to pay attention.